Pagonis, Austin, Abrahams Set American Records at Para World Series, Lewisville

2021 Lewisville Para Swimming World Series

• April 15-18, 2021
• LISD Westside Aquatic Center, Lewisville, TX
• Long Course (LCM)
• Results on Meet Mobile “World Series April 2021”

Teams from across the world gathered in Texas for the second stop of the Para Swimming World Series, where several national records fell at the hands of multiple Olympians and Olympic hopefuls. 

Athletes from 19 countries and teams competed in the World Series event, with several countries making their debut at the meet. In addition, the meet marked the first return to competition for Team USA’s athletes following the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Coronado Swim Association – Team Elite’s David Abrahams set 3 American records, while paralympian Evan Austin and paralympic hopeful Anastasia Pagonis each set two American records.

Abrahams, who swims collegiately at Harvard, opened the weekend by smashing the SB13 American record in the 100 breaststroke, touching in a time of 1:04.07. His time cut over 4 seconds off of Carson Sanocki’s previous record of 1:08.63 that was set in 2018, also moving Abrahams into the top spot in the world this season for his class.

The next day, Abrahams set two additional American records in the SB13 100 fly and SB13 50 freestyle. In the 100 fly, Abrahams’ time of 1:03.01 slashed 4 seconds off of Ethan Morrobel’s previous record of 1:07.17, while his time of 26.69 in the 50 freestyle cut over a second off of Blake Adams’ long standing record of 27.83 that was set in 2012. 

Pagonis, who competes in the S11 class, set American records in the 100 freestyle and 400 freestyle during the meet. In the 400 freestyle, Pagonis posted a time of 5:08.48 for victory, dropping 7 seconds off of her own American record of 5:15.63 set last year. In the 100 freestyle, Pagonis broke Letticia Martinez’s record of 1:13.86 from the 2016 Olympic Games with her time of 1:07.68, cutting over 6 seconds off of the record. 

Austin, a 2012 and 2016 Paralympian, won both the 200 and 400 freestyle, coming in with new American records in both events. In the 400 freestyle Austin touched in a time of 4:42.48, chopping 6 seconds off of his own S7 American record of 4:48.96. At the 200m split in the same race, Austin hit a time of 2:18.46 to the feet, coming over 4 seconds under the S7 American record in the individual event, which stood at a time of 2:22.51 set by Lantz Lamback almost 11 years ago. 

After his victory, Austin commented, “It was awesome to compete again and to reconnect with teammates that I haven’t seen for over a year. To see where we are right now in a Paralympic year is also a really good test for everyone and, hopefully, we can build on this momentum and move forward.”

Colleen Young, Elizabeth Marks, and Matthew Torres also broke American records over the course of the weekend. 

Young set the American record in the SB13 100 breaststroke, touching in a time of 1:15.15 to slash just under a second off of her own record of 1:16.01. 

Marks came in with an American record in the S6 50 Butterfly, where she finished first in a time of 38.25 to erase Erin Popovich’s 21 year old mark of 39.13. 

Torres smashed the record in the 400 freestyle for the S8 class, coming 2 seconds under Robert Griswold’s record of 4:32.77 to finish in 4:30.07.